Goodness Everywhere! - Evidence.

This past week or so, I've been dealing with what some would call a "sickness". I would call it a "seemingly never ending cycle of pain and annoyance". Pain, because of the coughing and small, white creatures in the back of my throat. Annoyance, because of the fact that every morning, I open my eyes and wonder if this will be the day I get to go back to "work", and am quickly told my body that the answer is a big, fat no. 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of the sob-story. G0d is resoundingly good. Perfect. Fa1thful. Because of these reasons, I began writing this post, not to complain to you about my momentary "sorrow" (not to be compared to the sorrow which was suffered for us upon the cr0ss).  I have seen evidences of this fa1thfulness, perfection and goodness in many ways this week (yes, even in the midst of boo-hooing to myself, watching youtube videos, and taking the less-than-delicious syrup which was prescribed to me by the doctor). And THAT is the reason I write. Not to glorify my own sad state, but to bring glory to the One who actually deserves it!

Exhibit A: James Everett. I had rarely gotten sick back in the states, and even then the sickness would only last a day or two, so this past week, James has seen the nitty gritty of it all. Boy, oh boy, can that man take care of his lady! He is an amazing picture of Chr1st loving the Chµrch. Not just the "laying down His life" part that we read about (which, of course, is the most important part... without that, we wouldn't have any of the rest of it!), but the nurturing love and constant care that Chr1st shows His bride, as well. James has shown such patience and sweet gentleness to me, and I thank G0d for His Fa1thfulness in providing for me with such an amazing husband. 

Exhibit B: It's hot. Seriously. I had some idea of what it would be like before we got here, but I didn't have... you know... the WHOLE idea. Well, I do now. And it's hot! The apartment that we share with our two friends, Ryan and Cameron has one air conditioner. Luckily for us, it's placed in the master bedroom – where James and I sleep. At first, we were sleeping with our door open, so the cool air would float across to R&C's room. But after a few nights, we realized that this technique was only letting the wall of hot air into our room. It was finally decided that we needed another a/c. We had made arrangements to pay for it, and have it installed when someone pointed out a recent vacancy in our apartment building. A sweet family (and good friends of ours) had just moved back to the states where they will soon (like, REALLY soon!) have their 4th baby, and start a new job. Their apartment is two floors down from ours, and is complete with TWO a/cs. One in each room!  After getting permission, we spent all day today moving ourselves into our second abode (when I say, "we" I mean, "James, Ryan and Cameron" I was about as useful as a pet goldfish... did I mention how thankful I am for my husband?). So, let's do the math: two homes in less than 3 months. WHAT?? We weren't even sure where we were going to live a week before we got here, and now we're living in a place BETTER than what we were originally provided with. Does that amaze anyone else? That the G0d of the universe would care about 4 little humans who were uncomfortable in the hot climate He created? Haha! Thank you, wonderful, merciful Sav1or, for giving us every day comforts ON TOP of the ultimate gift of salvat1on. How happy we should be to merely be adopted into G0d's family, yet His goodness continues throughout each and every day!!

As you can probably tell, there is a moral to this post: let's all take a little more time investigating G0d's goodness instead of complaining in the face of small adversities. There is something much bigger going on here... and that something is going to end with us falling on our faces in front of our victorious King! 

My Glory is Before Thee - A New Song

People do silly things when they're tired. In my case a couple nights ago, those silly things included crying big, hot, baby tears (not, "baby" like the cute, snuggly kind... baby like, "you're a big baby" baby). Come to think of it, being tired is just a poor excuse for having a bad attitude. I'm beginning to realize that I use that excuse a lot.Yuck. Well, now's as good a time as any to stop (you can keep an eye on me for that!). Anyway, as I laid in bed, I shuffled through a list of things that bothered me. My back aches...I'm so tired...my neck hurts. The list went on and on. My old, sinful flesh wanted to be miserable. I was reminded, however, that I have a Comforter. That the One who is leading me is greater than any discomfort I might face. I wondered what Jesµs would say to me had He been sitting on my bedside. As I contemplated the words He might say, He answered my restless heart with a song. Melody and all, as if Jesµs was singing to me Himself: "Stand firm, My glory is before thee." What a breath of fresh air! I mulled over the words I had just received, and my heart was immediately quieted. Stand firm. Hold your ground. Don't give up. My glory is near. Yes, it is before thee. What can compare to the glory of the King? Can my sadness, or list of discomforts lessen His goodness? It was as if I had been sitting in my pile of sorrows, and my Sav1or lifted my head so I could see His glory shining with all the colors of the morning! 

I rolled over in my bed to where the computer was and, with the backlight set on its lowest setting so as not to disturb my sleeping husband, I typed out the line which had refreshed my sp1rit. But I couldn't stop there. I would roll over to close my eyes, and a whole new verse would slip into my mind. It was 2am when my mind settled, and there was no more to type.  Sure, maybe later there will be more verses to add, but for now, I have this beautiful song that is the promise of my Sav1or's goodness.

Stand firm, my Glory is before thee

Take heart for I AM Lord of all

In Me find joy and peace abounding

For I have ransomed thy soul

He who, for me was pierced and broken

Now sits upon His rightful throne

And I, though just  a lowly servant

Will soon come to Him atoned

Pain hath no fight

Nor death its victory

When Jesus Christ

Be in whose name I plea

Then only life 

And love I find in Him

He whose strife

Bought my redemption

Balentime's Day!

As some of you may know, - as if America would let you forget - this past Friday was Valentine's Day. Though James and I were aware of the fact, we hadn't really planned anything special (apart from a greeting card which I had smuggled from the States). Apparently, this was a big faux pas - it being our first V-day being married and all - so we were forced to plan a date for ourselves. Ryan and Cameron, our flatmates, made it abundantly clear that they wouldn't be available to hang out with us (they were going to see a movie without us... rude), so we made our way to a nice restaurant in a busy part of the city. James led me to a table situated right next to a floor-to-ceiling glass window which overlooked the busy, brightly-lit traffic circle. It was absolutely lovely.
We had almost the whole restaurant to ourselves (a part from the one other couple who I caught snapping a few photos of us on their phones...the price we pay for being white), and we sat and talked for at least 2 hours enjoying our Valentine's meal. 

Being a bit of a plan-maker, I did some research before our date of some good, intentional conversation starters for married couples. There's something tricky about spending every hour of everyday with someone and still having to come up with new information to talk about over dinner. I had a sneaking suspicion that "look at that person down there" and "this food is delicious" wasn't exactly going to carry us through our entire date. The list consisted of some fun questions, some "I feel *this* when I..." statements, and even some activities for us to do together. Out of this list, we invented a game that any married couple (or any couple for that matter) could use on a dinner date.

I may have started his eyes a little too small..

We had a lot of fun with our list, as well as some really intentional conversations. I even learned things about James that I probably never would've even thought to ask without that beautiful list! Our all-time favorite number from the list was #16, which read, "Draw your spouse to the best of your ability". It probably took a good 15-30 minutes for each of us, and we laughed and laughed as we watched ourselves come to life with one stroke, and then become hideous with 

me...

another. In the end, our waiter deemed James' drawing the better of the two, then we paid our bill and made our way home. We picked up some ice cream from the grocery store where I was given a flower from the door man.There's nothing better than receiving a flower on V-day. Especially from a stranger...

Once home, we found a heart-shaped container filled with candy, two Kit-Kats, and Crunchie candy bar waiting for us on the table with a note from Ryan and Cameron wishing us a happy Valentine's Day. It was beautiful. 

Thanks, guys.

So, that was our Valentine's Day. It was wonderful and beautiful and it left us wanting more. G0d has been gracious in giving us to each other and teaching us to love like He does. At our wedding, there was a board that said, "I have found the one my soul loves" from the verse in Song of Solomon. I'm here to tell you that I have not only found him, but I get to spend every day with him. Thank you, Jesµs.

.............................................................................................

the game

 ~Start with a list of questions, statements and activities.

 (feel free to use ours, or make up your own!)

 ~The game starts when your spouse holds the list, and you pick a number on that list (in our case, the numbers were 1-16, since we only had 16 questions on our list). 

 ~They will read it aloud, and act accordingly. For instance, if the number they read is a question, you will be the one to answer it. If the number is an "I" statement, they will just finish the statement themselves. The activities are for you to do together. 

~Switch off every time so you both have opportunities to talk and as questions.

Enjoy!

the list

1. My funniest memory of our dating days is when...

2. What's the best vacation you had as a kid?

3. What was your favorite childhood cartoon?

4. When we fell in love, my favorite thing about you was...

5. What was the most scared you've ever been?

6. Do your best imitation of your spouse dancing.

7. My favorite memory from our wedding day is...

8. What one thing do you miss for our dating years? 

(the conversation that follows should be what you can do to bring that back into your relationship since, obviously, marriage should be and is better than dating.) 

9. I used to always wish I could...

10. What was the best halloween costume you've ever had?

11. Guess each other's favorite movie.

12. Where do you think our most romantic kiss was?

13. I like it best when you refer to me as...

14. What is one toy you wanted as a kid but never got?

15. I feel most loved by you when you...

16. Draw your spouse to the best of your ability.

Gift - Merry Christmas...and Thank You

"Every good gift and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights with whom 

there is no variation or shadow due to change."

1T1mothy 1:17

I was in high school when I fully realized the faith and trust it took to run a household solely on "gifts" like the ones mentioned above. It was then that I also realized that there was no better way to live. I remember a few instances of praying around the table for provision and, in faith, thanking our Jeh0va Jireh, for the gifts we knew He would bring. I remember a specific time when that prayer was offered with a sense of urgency. Within the week, a $10,000 check showed up in the mail. A sticky note was attached to the generous donation, giving thanks for the faithfulness of Mel LaMar Ministries. But the note wasn't addressed to Dad alone. The note included my name, too. My heart was flooded with thankfulness, as well as an overwhelming sense of unworthiness. I remember weeping as I read my name, knowing I didn't deserve any recognition or blessing for my small part, yet feeling G0d's grace as He showered me with both. Wow. 

  My heart is filled with the same blessing now, five years later, as my husband and I prepare to follow our Savior's call. We have received many generous gifts and commitments to pr*y as we endeavor to raise $7,500 for our 6-month trip to S. Asia. With each new gift, our hearts are encouraged by the faithfulness of G0d's people and His provision for our lives. Thank you. So, so very much. Merry Christmas, and may you be blessed.

**If you'd like to know how you can be involved, whether in pr*yer or with a gift, please let me know**

R-E-S-P-E-C-T -- find out what it means...To THEM!

seriously...

Recently, James and I decided that it would be fun if I had a pixie cut. It took a while to get that ponytail chopped off (I'd been growing it out since I was 16), but almost two hours later, I looked like a dark-haired Tinkerbell (in hairstyle alone... I wouldn't be caught dead looking at myself in a tiny green tutu dancing on top of a mirror - such an unflattering angle). 

Initially, I was worried that it was too different, that people wouldn't like the change. What shocked me more than their enthusiastic acceptance of my new 'do was their surprise that James did the deed himself. People would say things like, "James did that?? Wow, you must really trust him" or "You must have been soo nervous!"  Honestly, the thought that James might mess up my hair didn't even cross my mind. 

Okay, okay. I realize, of course, that probably most of those comments were meant as jokes, or in genuine awe that James could be so good and something he'd never done before. I would also like to point out that this is in no way an "I'm a better woman than you" blogpost (yuck)! All I'm saying is that after SO many comments (my personal favorite, "I would NEVER let my husband do that!"), I was faced with a question: where did this general distrust of men - of husbands - come from?  

James can attest to my vehement hatred for the joke about how G0d created man -- then He had a better idea (or any number of jokes along the same line). We as women have given ourselves over to a skewd view of the "equality" given to us because we live in America. Our T.V. Shows, some of our music, even our children's books make men out to be the silly, brainless gender and definitely NOT the heads of their households. Suddenly, instead of equality, we have superiority, and I know that this is definitely not what was intended at creation. Let's not conform ourselves to the patterns of this world - where men are idiots and women are better - but let's be transformed into what we were meant to be from the start. 

Yes, I trust my husband. No, I wasn't afraid when he chopped off my hair. He is not brainless or dimwitted.  I don't look at his mistakes and think, "Oh, James, ever the simple-minded kook," because I know beyond all doubt that that is not his character. Instead of joking about men's "inferiority", let's celebrate their strength, masculinity and the fact that THEY were created to be large and in charge! 

Proof.

For Dad - Thanks

Well, I'm here in the middle of the renewal process for my passport, and I got to one question that made me stop and think: 

Who is your emergency contact?

I thought for a moment, thinking of all the people who love me and whom I have loved, yet knowing the obvious answer. As I typed my dad's name, I thought about the beautiful cycle that was taking place in that moment. Here I was, renewing my passport for the purpose of spreading the Word to the lost. The first time I ever had need for a passport I was 7 and going with my parents to a far-away land as the smallest member of Mel LaMar Ministries. I was always included in his ministry. It was never just my dad who was preaching. Instead, he made it clear that I, in my own small way, was joining him in ministry to the glory of the King. 

It was through this trip and many others, that I was taught to see my importance in the building of the Kingdom. My dad would call me his partner and encourage me to find my own ministry opportunities inside of M.L.M. We would juggle together, sing together, and at the end of every meeting, give glory to G0d together for the lives that had been submitted to Chr1st.  

It was easy for me to think of my roles as unimportant or just as something to do, but my dad deliberately and intentionally taught me that what I was doing was for the L0rd, and that I should therefore do it with all my heart. 

What a blessing to be taught such a wonderful thing for so much of my life. 

So, now I plan to go to a far-away land with a new man. A new leader has stepped into place over me, and he will now be the one to pray, laugh, and cry with me - yet with the same purpose as ever: to bring glory to the One who is worthy of it. 

I'm so thankful for the men who have been placed as leaders over my life. This post goes to the man who first taught me how to love Je$us. Who sometimes (if I woke up early enough) I would see praying in the middle of the living room, knelt over the couch. Who would slap his B1ble down on the kitchen table before, after, or in the middle of dinner so he could lead us through a chapter or so of what he knew to be the best, most wonderful book in all the world. And who - above all else - uses his life to glorify our King through joyful obedience and trust. 

Thanks, Dad. I love you.

5 Reasons Why October is the Best Month.

Is there some sort of rule for how long one must wait before writing a new post? A week? Two weeks? A month (heaven forbid)? I can't help it. The response of my friends to my last posts was so overwhelmingly sweet that I felt a HUGE rush of excitement. When that died down, more and more ideas filled my head as to how I could get another rush like that. So, I don't care what the rules about posting are, I'm just gonna do... *someone raps on the door*... um, will you excuse me for a moment?

  "knock, knock"

who's there?

"police"

(oh, hehe, this is going to be good!) Police who?

"Blog Police... we need to talk to you about the 'posting three times in one week' rule."

umm... Ali's not here right now, but if you leave your name and number, she'll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible... ... ... beep.

Oh boy, sorry about that... Where was I? Oh, right. Though my brain was swarmed with ideas as to what my new post could be about, I finally settled on this one. So, without further ado, here it is, the one, the only, "5 Reasons Why October is the Best Month". 

FIVE.   Autumn. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. Autumn doesn't start in October, it starts in September! Yes, but no other month is spent FULLY SUBMERGED in the beauty Autumn as October. By the time November comes around, it's too cold and the leaves are mostly all gone (from what I remember of the years before).  In October, not only do the nights get chili, but most of the days are filled with brisk autumn air as well. Which means every day, every HOUR can be filled with warm things! (See #3.) 

FOUR. Layers. With the brisk autumn air comes the necessity for warmer clothes. Now, Ali LaMar would've taken this opportunity to go to the local thrift store and buy every old grandpa sweater off the racks to use as my wardrobe for this season and the next. Ali Everett, however, has a husband who also serves part-time as her fashion guru. As it turns out, frumpy sweaters with odd patterns and a faint smell of "old" (don't even pretend not to know what that smells like) just doesn't "do it" for him. Shocking, right...? Not even a little. So that leaves me with a closet full of ugly, old, too-big sweaters, and a body that longs to be warm. What's a girl to do? The answer, my friends, was found on THIS page via Pinterest. 

Cue, the scissors

With a little snip here and a little snap there, that closet full of sweaters was turned into the most fabulous collection of leg-warmers and scarves the world has ever seen! Wahooey!

THREE. Warm things. They say a picture's worth a thousand words...

        
            Hot Chocolate -->
                         

<-- Apple Cider



          



      Pumpkin Spice Latte  -->
             

                                                    ...'Nough said

James, Rachel and Zach 

TWO. Pumpkins. Pumpkin everything. Pumpkin patches, pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie, babies dressed as pumpkins... Pumpkin pumpkin PUMPKIN!! James and I got to go to a pumpkin patch with his (and now my) sister and her friend. We ate good food, drank good cider, went through a not-quite-so-good corn maze (or was it just that we were bad maze walkers?), and at the end of the day, went home with a pumpkin for each of us (thanks a lot, Rachel!)!!  

poor guy...

A few days later, I made a plan for carving my pumpkin. The plan was so elaborate, it took three sheets of paper to draw it all out. The plan was for the pumpkin to turn out looking like a fox with three layers of shading, and texture so well done, you would've thought it was a real fox. The result of my 2 hours of work, however, was more like a mangled wolf/bear that took more than a bit of imagination to see (if you can see it at all!).

So, what do I have to show for what is now my moldy, withered wolf/bear pumpkin? Just these: 

Pumpkin seeds are the most delicious type of seed on the planet, and I was determined to make them -just like my mom did- for my family. Many people try to ruin them by using all different kind of seasonings, but listen to me. SIMPLE (as in, soak them in salt water overnight, bake them in an oiled pan and put salt and pepper on them when they're done) is the way to go. 

ONE. Reason number one is my newest and best reason for celebrating October as the best month, because October 14th (though I hadn't been aware of it for almost my entire life) is the BEST day of the year. Yes, that is the day that my dear Mr. Everett was born. Yes, there are two Mr. Everett's who were born on that day, but let me, for a moment, talk about MY very own Mr. Everett.

Look at this handsome man... oh boy!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I never knew there were men like James before I actually met him. My heart longed to settle for less, but then I was brought to this person - a man who was something even MORE that what I could've imagined. He is hard-working, gentle, funny, a good friend a great musician, and so much more! His fa1th in the L0rd is something that -before I met him- I hadn't experienced in any other man in our generation. I am so thankful to call him my leader, best friend, band-mate, and dearest (earthly) love. It is for all these reasons and more that October 14th is my favorite day of the year, and, in conclusion, why October is the best month. 

              Happy October, everyone. 

Here are a couple more very special people who share a birthday month with James:

My sister, friend and maid-of-honor, Anna.
(I knew I'd get a complaint about this post
if she wasn't a part of the reason I love
October! You're welcome, Anna.)  

The only picture of us getting along ;)

One of my sweet nieces,
 Finely Jo

Happy Birthday month.